Movement Can Enhance Learning for Kids with ADHD
Does your child fidget and move around a lot? Do you repeatedly find yourself telling him or her to sit still…stop wiggling…keep your bottom in your chair? This excessive movement, which can drive parents and teachers crazy, may actually be an effective learning strategy. Rather than impeding focus and preventing learning, this hyperactivity may instead help increase alertness and facilitate the learning process in children with ADHD.
Studies conducted by ADHD researcher and psychology professor, Mark Rapport, Ph.D., at the University of Central Florida indicate that children with ADHD need to move more in order to maintain appropriate alertness while performing tasks that challenge their working memory. Working memory is a “temporary storage system” in the brain that holds several facts or thoughts while solving a problem or performing a task. Working memory helps individuals hold information long enough to use it in the short term, focus on a task, and remember what to do next. Completing math problems, following multi-step directions –- these are examples of tasks that require working memory.
Observe your own child and see if you recognize a pattern. When a task requires concentrated effort, you may find that your child’s fidgetiness increases, as compared to an activity that does not require working memory such as passively watching a program on television.
Simple Tips to Implement at Home and School
Allowing hyperactive children a safe and appropriate way to use movement as a learning strategy is important. You may find that your child does best standing and moving around in an area near his desk while working, for example. Talk with your child’s teacher about scheduling in frequent, regular breaks during the school day for physical activity. Make homework a fun and productive time by doing five jumping jacks with your child between each spelling word.
Some kids tend to be loud when they are wiggling -- tapping a pencil back and forth on the desk while in class or kicking the desk legs with swinging feet. Help your learn strategies that won’t be quite as disruptive in a quiet classroom -- tapping the pencil on his leg or crossing legs at the knees and swinging feet into open space won’t be as noisy, yet will still allow movement and aid in focus. Some kids also benefit from fiddling with a small item in their hands. Try something like a small bouncy ball, a Koosh ball or silly putty. For other kids chewing gum is helpful in maintaining focus. Together you, your child, and your child's teacher can come up with ideas that work and make learning more productive.
Interestingly, our activity level is one of the most fixed parts of our personalities according to Dr. Rapport. If you are a fidgety child, you will be a fidgety adult, though as an adult you may develop strategies to manage your movement so that it is not as obvious and distracting to others. Help your child to begin this process now so that learning is a positive and fulfilling experience.
Additional Reading:
- School Strategies for ADHD Kids
- Help Your Child Follow Directions
- Understanding Executive Functions
- What is Hyperfocus?
- Tips for Families
Sources:
Mark D. Rapport, Jennifer Bolden, Michael J. Kofler, Dustin E. Sarver, Joseph S. Raiker, R. Matt Alderson. Hyperactivity in Boys with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A Ubiquitous Core Symptom or Manifestation of Working Memory Deficits? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 2009 May;37(4):521-34.
John Cloud. Kids with ADHD May Learn Better by Fidgeting. Time Magazine. Mar. 25, 2009.
